The Gerken-Larson Heritage:

The 19th and 20th Centuries

A Family History

Herman Gerken (1819-1875)
Henry Gerken (1855-1914)
Ewald Gerken (1895-1956)
Joan (Gerken) Larson (1926-1994)
Thomas Larson (1962-)

Researched and written by
Tom Larson

Barbara (Kunkel) Keffeler (1877-1939) was a daughter of Frank and Margaret (Gerken) Kunkel. Barbara was a first cousin to my grandfather, Ewald Gerken. Both Barbara's mother Margaret and stepmother Sophia were sisters to Henry Gerken, my great-grandfather. T.L.

J.W. "Jake" and Barbara (Kunkel) Keffeler

Marie Barbara Kunkel was born on December 30, 1877*, at Dyersville, Iowa, daughter of Frank and Margaret (Gerken) Kunkel. Barbara was the second of seven children; her siblings were were William, Anna, Amelia, Edward, Margaret "Meta," and Paula. Their aunt Sophia Gerken, Margaret's younger sister, joined the household, as Sophia, at age thirteen, had gone to live with the Kunkels to housekeep after Herman Gerken, Margaret's and Sophia's father, died in 1875. The family moved into Dyersville circa 1887. Margaret Kunkel died in 1896, and Sophia had continued on in the household, after having helped the family out during the illness that led to her sister's death. Subsequently, in 1900, Frank Kunkel married Sophia Gerken, and Sophia, who had been acting as a second mother for many years to the children, was now their stepmother.
* = I had 1878 as a birth year for Barbara Kunkel, but I'm unsure what my source was. Other online sources have 1877, and an obituary for Barbara that appeared in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald has December 30, 1877, as her birth date.

Barbara attended St. Francis Academy in Dyersville and was graduated in 1894, the first class of graduates. She taught school for several years, both in Dyersville and Texas.

Marriage to J.W. "Jake" Keffeler.
Barbara Kunkel married Jacob William Keffeler* on November 21, 1916, at St. Francis Church in Dyersville, Iowa. Jacob Keffeler, who was called "Jake," was born on June 19, 1876, son of Dominicus and Anna Margaret (Rottler) Keffeler, in Lansing, Iowa.
* = Jake's first name is James, according to Sr. Pat Taylor's "Keffeler trees" posted on Rootsweb.com at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sisterpat, but Barbara's Telegraph Herald obituary refers to her as "Mrs. Jacob Keffeler," his name is given as Jacob in an article about his parents' 60th wedding anniversary, and their gravestone at Dyersville evidently reads Jacob; at any rate, it seems he was commonly called "Jake."

Jake and Barbara Keffeler lived at Stoneville, South Dakota; Jake had other Keffeler relatives settle in western South Dakota, and evidently his sister Agatha also lived at Stoneville for a time. Jake and Barbara Keffeler adopted two children: Mathias Keffeler and Arthur Keffeler.

Barbara Keffeler dies.
Barbara Keffeler died on Thursday, January 26, 1939*, at the family home in Stoneville, South Dakota, following a week's illness with the flu. Her body was taken back to her native Dyersville, Iowa, for burial, arriving there on Saturday, January 29, and taken to the home of her sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. D.J. Keffeler.
* = Sr. Pat Taylor's genealogy at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sisterpat gives Barbara's death date as January 25. Her Telegraph Herald obituary has her dying on Thursday, which would have been January 26.

Funeral services were held at St. Francis Church in Dyersville on Monday morning, January 30, with the Rev. Wm. Kunkel, brother of the decedent, celebrating the requiem mass. The. Rev. Nicholas Keffeler, a brother-in-law, was deacon, and the Very Rev. M.J. Thiltgen, of Ossian, Iowa, was sub-deacon. Burial was in St. Francis Cemetery in Dyersville.

Caketbearers, all nephews, were Edward and Herbert Keffeler, Irvin, Robert, and George Ament, and Paul, Mark, and Charles Beckmann. Honorary pallbearers were six nieces, Mrs. Nic Gross, Mrs. Sam Morgan, Grace and Mary Margaret Ament, Mary Jane Keffeler, and Anna Mae Beckmann, and six St. Francis alumnae, Mrs. Grover Bass, Mrs. Wm. Haggerty, Mrs. Wm. O'Rourke, Mrs. George Beckmann, and Miss Blanche Smith.

Besides her husband, she leaves one brother, the Rev. Wm. Kunkel, of Norway, Ia.; and four sisters, Mrs. Dominic Keffeler, Mrs. Ed Ament, and Mrs. Meta Beckmann, all of Dyersville, Ia., and Paula Kunkel, of Ossian, Ia.

Sometime after his wife's death, Jake Keffeler moved to Mound City, Kansas, where his sister, Jeanette, and her husband, Owen Water, were living.

Jake Keffeler dies.
Jacob W. "Jake" Keffeler died on June 11, 1948, at Mound City, Kansas. He was buried at Dyersville, Iowa.

Children of J.W. "Jake" and Barbara (Kunkel) Keffeler:

Mathias Jerome Keffeler, adopted son of J.W. "Jake" and Barbara (Kunkel) Keffeler was born on June 16, 1912, at St. Joseph, Kansas. Matt was adopted circa 1920 from Boys Town, Nebraska. Matt Keffeler married Donna Deane Forgue on August 1, 1952, in Sundance, Wyoming. Matt and Donna Keffeler had three children: Michael Lloyd Keffeler, Jacob Jerome Keffeler, and Ronald Lloyd Keffeler. Matt and Donna moved to Clyde, Kansas, in 1975.
Donna Forgue was born on July 21, 1929, at Aurora, Kansas, daughter of Elmer and Eva (Zimmer) Forgue. She attended District 7 school east of Aurora. She also attended St. Ann’s Academy in Clyde, Kansas. She took training at Manitowoc, Wisconsin Vo-Tech to become a Certified Nurse Aide. After completion of her training, Donna worked in nursing homes in Wisconsin and Nebraska. She also worked in foster care in South Dakota, caring for as many as 17 children at one time.
Matt Keffeler died on March 27, 1980, at Clyde, Kansas, and he was buried on March 30 in Mt. Calvary Cemetery at Clyde.
Donna Keffeler moved to Concordia, Kansas, in 1982. She was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and Altar Society, both of Concordia, as well as a member of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church of Clyde.
Donna Keffeler died on Saturday, October 7, 2006, at Sunset Nursing Center in Concordia, Kansas. The funeral was at 10 a.m., Wednesday, October 11, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Concordia, with the Rev. Larry Letourneau officiating. The cremains were buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery at Clyde, Kansas.
Survivors included a son, Jacob Keffeler and wife Cindy of Omaha, Neb.; two sisters, Della Hefner of Concordia, Kansas, and Dorothy Vetting of Adelanto, Calif.; one brother, Lloyd Forgue of Mishicot, Wis.; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by two sons, Ronald Keffeler and Michael Keffeler, her parents, and two sisters
Source for Donna Keffeler obituary information: Concordia Blade Empire, online at http://www.bladeempire.com/web/isite.dll?1160418109359~keffeler, accessed Feb. 21, 2009.

Children of Mathias and Donna (Forgue) Keffeler:
- Michael Lloyd Keffeler was born on December 25, 1950, at Sundance, Wyoming, son of Mathias and Donna (Forgue) Keffeler. Micahel Keffeler married Judy Marie Ashley on December 21, 1974, at Clyde, Kansas. Michael Keffeler is cited as living in Hutchinson, Kansas, at the time of his brother Ron's death in 1999.
  Michael Keffeler preceded his mother in death, who died in 2003.
- Jacob Jerome Keffeler, son of of Mathias and Donna (Forgue) Keffeler, married Cindy Schutte, daughter of Walter and Ruby (Brennan) Schutte. Cindy Schutte was a daughter of Walter and Ruby (Brennan) Schutte. Jake and Cindy Keffeler lived at Omaha, Nebraska.
- Ronald Lloyd Keffeler, adopted son of Mathias and Donna (Forgue) Keffeler, was born on January 9, 1971, at Green Bay, Wisconsin. Ron Keffeler attended grade school in Clyde, Kansas, and Concordia, Kansas, and was graduated from Concordia High School in 1989. He attended the Beloit Vocational-Technicial School for a year. Ron was a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Concordia. He was an auto parts salesman and had worked at Big-A Auto Parts, Napa Auto and City Wide Auto, all of Concordia.
  Ron Keffeler, 28, of Concordia, Kansas, died Sunday, April 4, 1999, in a vehicle fire accident at his home. Funeral services were at 10:30 a.m., Friday, April 9, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Concordia. Burial was private. The Chaput-Buoy Funeral Home in Concordia was in charge of arrangements.
  He was survived by his mother, Donna Keffeler, of Concordia, Kansas; and two brothers, Michael Keffeler, of Hutchinson, Kansas, and Jacob Keffeler, of Omaha, Neb.
  Source for Rona Keffeler obituary information: Topeka Capital-Journal, April 8, 1999, accessed online at http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4179/is_19990408/ai_n11720527, accessed Feb. 21, 2009.
Arthur Keffeler was an adopted son of J.W. "Jake" and Barbara (Kunkel) Keffeler.

Sources include an obituary for Barbara (Kunkel) Keffeler that appeared in the Dubuque Telegraph Herald on Tuesday, January 31, 1939; Sr Pat Taylor's online genealogies, "Keffeler Klan 1" by Sr Pat Taylor on GenCircles at http://www.gencircles.com/users/pattaylor/1 and "Keffeler trees" on Rootsweb.com at http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=sisterpat; and the Forgues/Forgue Family Tree at http://www.forgues.ws/WC12/WC12_385.htm and a Forgue genealogy at http://forgue.com/PS01/PS01_337.htm, and other sources as noted within the text.

Click here for the Gerken family history contents page.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tdlarson/gerken/kunkel/barbara.htm
Last revised February 25, 2009.